Interview Preparation

Preparing for interviews is essential for career advancement. It helps you present your skills effectively, boosts confidence, and increases your chances of securing a position. By practicing common questions, researching the company, and understanding the job role, you can make a strong impression on potential employers.

Resources

  1. Review pages 46-57 of The CCO’s Handbook.

  2. Review the resources on the CCO’s website for Acing the Interview, including the following sections

  3. Big Interview

    Big Interview allows you to simulate job interviews by responding to pre-recorded interview questions and practicing both verbal and non-verbal communication skills through a webcam. Afterwards, you can get your practice interviews reviewed by AI or send them to anyone you’d like to get feedback from!

    • Create an account on Big Interview using your Purdue email address.

    • Browse the "Interview Sets" completing the General "Top 10 Questions" and other sets from Industry that interest you.

      You can answer practice interview questions specific to your desired industry (or other categories).

    • Review your recorded answers and use the AI feedback to improve your responses. You can also share your recorded answers with friends, family, or career consultants for additional feedback.

  4. Want more practice? (Optional; Purdue Students Only)

    Schedule a mock interview with a CCO Career Consultant. The CCO requires that you complete Interview Stream before scheduling an appoint with a consultant.

    Schedule a mock interview through the CCO using the following instructions:

    1. Log into Boilerconnect.

    2. Navigate to the blue Make an Appointment button on the right hand side.

    3. Under the What Type of Appointment would you like to schedule dropdown, select Career/Pre-Professional Advising.

    4. Next, under the Service dropdown, scroll down and select Interview Preparation.

    5. Select a date that works for you and click Find Available Times. You will be directed to a page that give you available time slots with a variety of staff members. Select the time that works for you and fill out the required information.

      Note: You can choose to have an In Person or Virtual meeting.

Assignment (Sprint #3 Professional Development)

(NDMN & IDMN students: review extra notes here before starting.)

  1. Create an account at Big Interview.

  2. Complete at least TWO "Interview Sets"

    • Complete the "Top 10 Questions" set from the "General" category.

    • At least one of the interview sets must be from the "Industry" category, selecting your desired industry (e.g., Data Science, Engineering, Business, etc.).

  3. Once you have answered all of the interview questions, click My videos, and review yourself.

  4. For three of your completed interviews, click Get AI Feedback to receive an AI score and feedback on your responses.

Screenshot of Big Interview dashboard.
Figure 1. Example Student Submission of Big Interview 'My Videos' dashboard.
To Submit

Take a screenshot of your completed videos with self-reviews. For full points the screenshot must include:

  • At least 8 completed interview questions with dates during the assignment window

  • Each completed interview question must have a self-review score

  • Three of the completed interviews have an AI-score

  • There are interviews from both the "General" and "Industry" categories, multiple screenshots may be necessary to show this.

Submit your screenshot(s) on Gradescope and answer the related reflection questions.

NDMN & Indiana Data Mine Students

Login to Big Interview by finding your university in the "Select Your School" input. Many of the links above may not work (they link to Purdue’s instance), but the assignment remains the same.

University Selector
Figure 2. NDMN Big Interview Selector.
If you are unable to find your university on Big Interview, complete the alternate interview questions and upload your answers to the assignment as a ".pdf".